Best Of Colin Firth

11 January 2014

Colin Firth has been a regular fixture on the big screen since his debut as a part of the famous ‘Brit Pack’.

Since then his presence on screen has earned over $936 million from 42 releases, two Academy Award nominations and one win. In celebration of the upcoming film, The Railway Man, we are taking a look at Colin Firth’s best films.

- Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Colin Firth stars in one of Jane Austen’s most beloved stories, Pride and Prejudice, as the snobby but passionate aristocrat bachelor, Fitzwilliam Darcy (Mr. Darcy).

Originally, he turned down the role, but he was coaxed into consent by the producer. Good thing he did! His performance as Mr. Darcy served as his first break-through role as he became a global heartthrob sensation.

The BBC mini-series won 8 awards in total, including a Primetime Emmy Award, and was nominated for many more.

- Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001)

When Helen Fielding wrote the bestselling novel Bridget Jones’ Diary, she wrote the main character Bridget (Renee Zellweger) idolizing Firth’s portrayal of Mr. Darcy.

Which mean this role Mark Darcy was literally written with Colin Firth in mind - and come film adaption, he couldn’t resist the role. This was the first of many romantic comedy characters he played.

The film received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, as well as a BAFTA nomination. Bridget Jones’s Diary is now seen as a Best of British film as well as a worldwide classic. The film acquired such positive reviews there was a sequel made with the same cast three years later.

- The Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)

In an adaption of the bestselling novel by Tracy Chevalier, Colin Firth stars as baroque painter Johannes Vermeer in The Girl with a Pearl Earring.

The plot follows Vermeer and his relationship with Griet (Scarlett Johansson) as she becomes his new talented assistant and model for one of his most famous works of art.

His performance is one of his more serious roles of his careers, but the film received high critical acclaim and was nominated for three Academy Awards and two Golden Globes.

- A Single Man (2009)

A Single Man continued Colin Firth’s international fame and widespread critical acclaim. Based on the novel of the same name, the plot revolves around George Falconer (Firth), a depressed gay British university professor living in Southern California in 1962, and his struggle to cope with the sudden death of his boyfriend.

Firth won the BAFTA for Best Leading Actor and was nominated for both an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role and a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture.

- The King's Speech (2011)

Colin Firths performance in The King's Speech took him from a dreamy romantic actor to an Academy Award winning, A-lister. Firth mastered the stammering King George VI character and gave a mind-blowing performance.

Co-starring Geoffrey Rush as an unconventional speech therapist Lionel Logue and Helena Bonham Carter as the loving wife, Queen Elizabeth, the film received a standing ovation when it was screened at the Toronto Film Festival, as well as four Academy Awards from 12 nominations.

- The Railway Man (2014)

In one of his deepest, most moving roles, Colin Firth stars in the new film The Railway Man.

Firth plays Eric Lomax, World War II POW struggling with psychological trauma that causes him to have flashbacks of the unimaginable events he endured during the war.

When the pain becomes too much his wife Patti (Nicole Kidman) and best friend help him find the strength to travel to Far East and face his tormentor - but with revenge or reconciliation on his mind?